The Storming of the Capitol

Resignation demands on HD judges in the US - blame the wife

US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has faced calls for his resignation after it emerged that an upside-down US flag was raised at his home on January 17, 2021, shortly after the storming of the Capitol. This is reported by American media.

According to the New York Times, which first reported it, the upside-down flag is a symbol of the "stop the steal" movement, which claims that voter fraud was behind Donald Trump's loss in the 2020 presidential election.

In an email to the newspaper, Alito claims that he was "not at all involved" in the raising of the flag, and blames his wife.

"It was briefly suspended by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbor's offensive and personally insulting language on yard signs," he writes to the NYT.

Among other things, the neighbor allegedly wrote "fuck Trump" and attacked Alito's wife via his signs, according to the judge.

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Analytics: A proven tactic for powerful men

For men in power to blame their wives when they find themselves in a moral or legal quandary is a well-proven tactic. That's what Rebecca Davis O'Brien and Reid J Epstein write in an analysis for the New York Times.

Usually it is rooted in sexist stereotypes about manipulative, status-obsessed politicians' wives, they write. The public generally has higher ethical standards for women, and therefore powerful men believe they can escape criticism by blaming their wives, says political strategist Jennifer Palmieri.

- But that's not the case with your wife, it just makes you look like a coward.

The case with HD judge Samuel Alito's upside-down flag is not likely to have any worse consequences for either him or his wife, writes Zachary B Wolf for CNN.

"A HD judge being exposed as having a political leaning is not illegal, just shameful."

However, powerful men also blame their wives in more serious contexts, writes Wolf - including the Democratic senator Bob Menendez, who is on trial for bribery and defended himself in court by saying that his co-accused wife Nadine managed the couple's finances completely without his insight.